Dumb? Mr P was just being himself!..

Many of us would have heard of the world’s dumbest criminals. The story of the thug who went to steal a shop and found that the till was nearly empty, is especially hilarious. He had threatened the shop owner and thoughtfully left his phone number with him with instructions to inform him as soon as the till filled up. Can it be just bad luck or Karma that the thug’s thoughtfulness was soon rewarded by the police knocking on his door? However, it cannot be denied that had it been Mr P who was the shop owner, the outcome could have been quite different. It must be conceded that there are “world’s dumbest victims” too as the following incident proves!

Getting up late in the morning, Mr P had opened the door of his flat to collect the newspaper that had been left outside. He saw that his neighbour was also standing at her door and was talking to a man in the hallway. To the rest of the world Mr P wanted to project himself as a diligent early riser and Mr P felt slightly ashamed that the neighbour saw him still in his pajamas getting the newspaper so late in the morning. To appear as nonchalant, Mr P squeaked out a “Good Morning” to her. She was quite startled by the greeting. “Oh! Good Morning!” she said. Then, may be to cover her embarrassment in seeing Mr P in his pajamas, or to dispel doubts about what she was doing with a strange man at her door, she resorted to some unnecessary explanation. “This man has come for the newspaper dues.”

Mr P now looked at the man standing outside her door and said “Please come and collect my dues too. I would like to pay for a couple of months in advance as well. It is a pain paying every month and I may not be in every time you come a-knocking.”

“Sure”, said the man and he came to Mr P’s door. Mr P went in and brought out the money and gave him two months’ dues and two months’ advance payment. Needless to say that it came to a hefty sum and Mr P asked for a receipt. The man wrote out a receipt, signed and gave it to Mr P and hurried off.

Later that week Mr P was asked to pay the dues for the newspaper again, but this time the person who knocked on his door was a different man. Mr P said he had already paid for the paper and he even had a receipt to show. He brought out the receipt and the new person had a look at it. “This can’t be genuine, sir," he said trying to hold back his laughter. "Looks like you have been duped. Did you check the name of the person who signed this receipt? I am sure that President Barrack Obama would not be walking around collecting the dues for the Times of India!”...